


The Caregiver

by supernaturallylost



Series: Rehabilitation [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Agoraphobia, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Caring Dean, M/M, oops they have to share a room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 12:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4392098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernaturallylost/pseuds/supernaturallylost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After agreeing to live with Dean and Sam, Castiel feels vulnerable and small in such a large space.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Caregiver

“I’ll change the sheets for you quick,” Dean smiled gently. “You probably want to get to sleep soon, don’t you?”

Cas bit his lip and shrugged with one shoulder. When Dean tilted his head, raised his eyebrows, and smiled, Cas couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes,” he admitted. Then, quieter, “I can sleep on the couch, Dean. Really, I don’t mind. I’d be perfectly comfortable there.”

“It’s funny,” Dean rolled his eyes while leaning down to pull up the dirty sheets, “that you think I would ever let you sleep on the couch.”

Cas raised an eyebrow.

“What if I told you I’d prefer it?”

“I’d tell you that you obviously have not slept on a memory foam mattress before and as such are not allowed to have that opinion.”

Cas shook his head and smiled. Meanwhile, Dean pulled the pillowcases from his two pillows and brought the laundry to the machines in the closet next to his door in the hallway. He stuffed the sheets in the washer after moving Cas’s wet clothes into the drier. Then he reached up to one of the linen shelves and pulled down deep grey sheets with lighter grey pillow cases. Castiel scratched his elbow from just inside the bedroom, a new thought stuck in his mind.

“Your clothes should be dry in the morning,” Dean said when he returned to the room and started making the bed. Very quietly, looking away, Dean added, “Then we can see about getting you some more clothes. Do you have possessions or anything you want to bring here?”

Castiel shook his head and swallowed hard. His eyes were heavy.

“Dean,” he whispered.

He glanced at the doorway and stepped forward. Dean turned around with a half-covered pillow in his hands.

“What is it?” Dean asked quietly. Cas pulled on his ear. “Is something wrong?”

Although he shook his head, he frowned. Then he looked around the room.

“This room,” Cas began slowly.

“Dishes are done!” Sam called, walking down the hallway.

Dean rolled his eyes and smiled when Sam came into the room.

“Expecting praise?” Dean asked sarcastically.

“Little bit,” Sam shrugged. He winked at Castiel. “So, Cas, are you staying with us tonight?”

“If it’s alright with you,” Cas asked, his heart in his throat.

Sam shrugged.

“I’d like more opportunities to beat you at Mario Kart,” Sam joked. “Since you’re staying, though, you should know that I do a lot of running. I get up at six in the morning every day and go for a jog. I try to be quiet, but Dean says I wake him up every once in a while.”

Dean nodded at Cas with purposefully wide eyes.

“Anyway,” Sam sighed, “I work pretty regularly from eight to six, so I’m gone most of the day.”

Cas nodded.

“Alright, well, anything more you need from me before I go to bed?”

Dean rolled his eyes again. “Go to sleep.”

Sam reached forward to shake Cas’s hand.

“Thanks for rooming with us, Cas,” Sam smiled. “Dean can get pretty overwhelming in large doses.”

Dean rolled his eyes, blushed lightly, and pushed Sam toward his own door.

“G’night!” he smiled.

When Sam’s door closed behind him, Cas took a deep breath. Dean, however, reached out for Cas’s shoulders.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Cas nodded.

“The room is so big,” he said. “I feel small.”

Dean’s brow furrowed. Then he stepped back and reached for the second pillow to put a case over it. Looking away, he asked, “Do you want me to stay with you in here tonight?”

Cas said nothing.

“It’s okay, Cas,” Dean said softly. He fluffed the pillows and straightened the comforter on the bed. “I remember feeling the same way when we first moved in after living in the car. I slept in the closet for the first couple of days.”

“Really?” Castiel asked with wide eyes.

Dean turned to face him and smiled.

“Yeah, really,” he nodded. “If you want, I’ll stay with you.”

Cas bit his lip. Then, very gently, he whispered, “Thank you, Dean.”

Dean took a deep breath.

“This has been a very strange day,” he mused. He stretched his arms widely and yawned. “It started with Sam telling me about environmental impacts of cars versus buses and it ends like this? Strange.”

“Dean,” Cas yawned. “I don’t know how I can repay you.”

With a shaking head, Dean left the room. When he came back, he had two fresh glasses of water in hand. He held one out for Cas.

“If you wake up for some reason during the night, you know where the bathroom is. There’s plenty of food in the kitchen if you get hungry.”

Dean jumped suddenly with an idea and rushed back out of the room. Cas peered after him, but Dean returned quickly. This time, he held Cas’s rose in its small vase.

“Almost forgot this,” Dean grinned. He placed it on the nightstand. “Now, I’ll go get a cushion from the couch and sleep here on the floor. Just don’t step on me, alright?”

“No,” Cas shook his head wildly. “Dean, really. You’re giving up your bed already. You shouldn’t sleep on the floor. This bed is big enough for two and then some.”

Cas blushed. Dean blushed. Dean rubbed the back of his neck.

“That wouldn’t freak you out?” Dean asked calmly.

Cas shook his head and sat down on the side of the bed nearest the door.

“Okay,” Dean agreed quietly. He walked around the foot of the bed and bit his lip. “I’ll just sleep under the comforter; you sleep under the sheets.”

Cas nodded.

Eventually, the both of them were settled. Cas needed the door closed to help the space seem smaller, which made Dean blush even more. What will Sammy think, he wondered? Then, they both lay down with two feet of space between them and waited for each other to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave comments.


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